Union and Wolfsburg share the points

2-2 draw in Köpenick:

Sun, 01. March 2020

1. FC Union Berlin added another point to the Bundesliga tally for the season after a 2-2 draw at home to VfL Wolfsburg.

Sebastian Andersson put the Köpenick club ahead after 41 minutes — his 10th goal in the league so far. Marvin Friedrich headed in a second after 56 minutes, but Wolfsburg fought back in the last half an hour. Yannick Gerhardt’s header handed the visitors a lifeline and with nine minutes left, Joao Victor's cross was turned in by Wout Weghorst.

Urs Fischer restored Keven Schlotterbeck and Christopher Trimmel to the starting XI with Julian Ryerson and Florian Hübner going to the bench. A short torrential downpour created difficult conditions for the players and the flow of the game certainly suffered. Rafal Gikiewicz was Union’s busiest in the box, clearing a dangerous through ball before coming to the rescue after 20 minutes. Wout Weghorst headed on target but was denied by the Polish goalkeeper who was agile enough to defend the rebound from Wolfsburg’s striker. Referee Bastian Dankert suspended the game due to protest banners although it shortly resumed later. The deadlock was broken after 41 minutes when Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koan Casteels misjudged the flight of Christopher Trimmel’s free kick and Andersson headed into the empty net. The match was further suspended by referee Dankert until the players returned from the tunnel to play out three additional minutes.

Nine minutes into the second half, Union doubled their advantage — another set-piece proving crucial for Urs Fischer’s team. Trimmel sent the ball in from the right and Friedrich finished impressively from the front-post with a deft header across the goalkeeper. That cushion was cut by Yannick Gerhardt who finished with a thumping header on the hour mark to bring Oliver Glasner’s team back into the match. Marcus Ingvartsen and Grischa Prömel added freshness from the substitute’s bench as Union looked to regain control of proceedings. The Dane headed straight at Koan Casteels from about 8 yards out after a cross from Robert Andrich. Wolfsburg substitute Joao Victor delivered the telling cross for Weghorst to score on 81 minutes from a few yards out.

1. FC Union Berlin have little time to let up in all competitions with Bayer Leverkusen the next port of call in the German Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday at 18:30. Three days later, Fischer's squad head south to play SC Freiburg in Bundesliga action at 15:30.

Urs Fischer addressed the match at his press conference: "For me a fair point. A point reflected the game. For me, an important point. At the end I’m happy we got a point, we realised Wolfsburg tried to create something. The team reacted well to get this point. In the first half, we saw two teams tactically nullified each other. It wasn’t pretty for the fans. For me, as a coach, it was interesting. Set pices were weapons today. Two goals from set pieces. You’d say normally that need to take 3 points, but not for me as after 2-0, Wolfsburg are a strong team, so we achieved an important point."